“I was 22 and had just finished a teaching degree when I met a recruiter on campus. In the 1970s, there was a shortage of math and science teachers in Australia. They offered me two years tax-free and paid for my travel,” Paul explained. “That’s how I ended up teaching science in Wollongong.”

Paul later completed a Master of Education at the University of Tasmania and taught curriculum development. “There, I got interested in bioethics,” Paul said. “Bioethics is about studying the ethical issues in biology and its application to health and medicine. I started with ethics in pharmacy, considering the moral and ethical dilemmas pharmacists face.”

“My interest in bioethics opened opportunities to write and teach ethics online, and I started developing courses for various higher education institutions,” he said. “Most recently, I worked with Endeavour’s Head of Department of Social Sciences, Anita Milicevic, to develop a new short course called Critical Thinking.”

“Endeavour’s short courses offer the wider community an opportunity to learn about natural health. Their edge comes from being enriched by the college’s holistic approach, self-reflection and the social ethics of what a broader perspective about medicine can achieve.”

“I enjoy working with others to develop courses – you need academic knowledge and people skills to negotiate with others about objectives, content and assessments,” Paul said. “You also need to communicate criticism in ways that are non-threatening.”

Paul has witnessed the shift in curriculum development from face-to-face learning environments to online. “As technology evolves, teachers and students must continually adapt to new learning platforms,” he said. “Previously, we spent three years getting a course right. Today, the timeframe is much shorter. We iterate and move on. Of course, we are always tinkering to fine-tune online courses, and when a course is re-accredited, there’s a major opportunity to re-assess everything.

In addition to teaching and developing curriculum, Paul has written textbooks for health and science students and regularly contributes articles to the Journal of Australian Traditional Medical Society about ethics in complementary medicine. “I enjoy sharing my knowledge and learning about the different natural health modalities and the issues faced in practice. We have fascinating cross-discipline chats at Endeavour, and that’s intellectually rewarding.”

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